


Different Kinds of Families

by Anonymous



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Families of Choice, M/M, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 12:12:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4876348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Thank you for coming in on such short notice," Principal Fehr began. "I've called you both to discuss my concerns for Patrick," he gestured to Patrick's proxy Sidney, "And Ryan," he nodded at Mr. Giroux. "They got into a fight today during recess. This is not the first time two teachers have had to separate them."</p><p>Sidney clenched his teeth. This did not bode well for his parenting skills.</p><p>"What did your son do to Ryan?" Mr. Giroux snapped at Sidney.</p><p>The nerve of the guy! "Maybe <i>your</i> son provoked Patrick!"</p><p> </p><p>  <i>(Two single parents and one meet-cute in the principal's office.)</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Different Kinds of Families

**Author's Note:**

> Credit for this fic idea comes from: http://thesinbin.dreamwidth.org/3088.html?thread=2892048#cmt2892048 ... thanks for the great prompt anon!

Sidney sat in Principal Fehr's office, twisting his fingers nervously in his hands. After receiving assurance that Patrick was perfectly fine he nodded and humoured the older gentleman in small talk about the new school year and the transitioning weather patterns while they waited for the third in their party, a Mr. Giroux, whose surname did not match the child he was clearly a guardian for. The man the evidently quite busy, as he had still not shown up for the meeting Principal Fehr had set up.

Or maybe just irresponsible.

Either way Sidney wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. The whole concept of being called into the principal's office was not something he was accustomed to. He was extremely disappointed in his son (well, he would be once he found out why he was there). Sidney thought himself a good parent, considering the circumstances. Sure, it wasn't easy being a single dad but he'd made the decision when he turned twenty four that he wanted a child of his own before he got too old to chase them around and if his biology wasn't going to give him one then he'd adopt one. And that was exactly what he did.

Principal Fehr did not seem like much of a hockey fan (shame, really), so Sidney was more than relieved when the assistant knocked to let Mr. Giroux in.

"Sorry I'm late," he shook hands with both Sidney and Principal Fehr. Mr. Giroux's unkempt hair and casual attire didn't seem to suit the severity of this meeting. Even Sidney had at least taken care to change into a collared shirt after he received the call from the school while at the hospital. He hated postponing appointments with patients but Sidney had never received a call from the principal before and assumed that it was quite a serious matter.

"Thank you for coming in on such short notice," Principal Fehr began. "I've called you both to discuss my concerns for Patrick," he gestured to Patrick's proxy Sidney, "And Ryan," he nodded at Mr. Giroux. "They got into a fight today during recess. This is not the first time two teachers have had to separate them."

Sidney clenched his teeth. This did not bode well for his parenting skills.

"What did your son do to Ryan?" Mr. Giroux snapped at Sidney.

The nerve of the guy! "Maybe _your_ son provoked Patrick!" Then, to Principal Fehr: "He's never shown any aggression at home!"

"Now now," Principal Fehr's eyes shifted back and forth between the two. "I'm not looking to assess blame here. But I've spoken to their teacher and she's mentioned that they are both very competitive, with their schoolwork and even when they're playing outside."

Mr. Giroux nodded. "Ryan's always wanted to be the best at everything. I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Well, at least Sidney could agree with Mr. Giroux about one thing.

"That's-that's an admirable trait, and it's fantastic that Ryan, and Patrick," Principal Fehr waved his hand in Sidney's direction. "Are both so engaged and so ambitious. But I think something that they might be missing is, you know, the aspect of sharing, and being a good sport. Here at Harrisburg Academy, we strive to instil our students with the notion that teamwork and helping one another is how we strive to be the best."

Sidney tried not to roll his eyes. Sure, teamwork was wonderful, but sometimes you had to break free and accomplish things on your own. And sharing didn't work in the real world. Maybe the public school system would've been a better choice. Patrick could stand to use a little toughening up.

"The boys see each of you as their role models. So what I think would be beneficial to all of you is for you to set up a playdate between your two families so Patrick and Ryan can see how well you two can get along and hopefully emulate this behaviour."

This seemed a little unorthodox, and Mr. Giroux didn't seem like the kind of fellow that Sidney normally formed associations with.

"What is this, like homework?" Mr. Giroux's tone was telling enough of his opinion of the suggestion.

"Yes, in a way. Why don't you two take the time now to discuss an appropriate day and activity?"

Mr. Giroux glanced at Sidney with a disapproving sneer. "Saturday night hockey, if you can handle it."

Whoa, finally they were talking. "Bring it."

"No no," Principal Fehr cut in frantically. "Maybe the zoo, or a trip to a local landmark? A place where they can share good experiences without feeling the need to compete against one another."

"Fine, we can go to the zoo," Sidney replied. "I've been wanting to take Patrick there for a while. We've been meaning to see the new penguins."

"Penguins are overrated animals," Mr. Giroux grumbled, arms tight against his chest.

Sidney did not even dignify that with a response. He wouldn't be agreeing to spend even a second of his time with this asshole if the school principal hadn't insisted. But he never liked to disappoint academic figures (even if they were the heads of a needless private school that he'd only enrolled his son in due to his mother's insistence). "How does this Saturday at 2pm sound?"

"Fine," Mr. Giroux snapped. "We'll need to wrap it up before 6pm so Ryan and I can get to hockey practice."

So Mr. Giroux was serious about the Saturday night hockey. Interesting. "Fine."

Principal Fehr clapped his hands in front of him. "Excellent. I hope that this will be a good experience for all of you."

Sidney highly doubted it.

 

Sidney and Patrick stood at the zoo entrance precisely at 2pm. Sidney scanned his surroundings but did not see Mr. Giroux anywhere in sight. It appeared as though the man was late. Again.

"There's Ryan!" Patrick shouted, tugging on Sidney's hand and leading them both towards a better dressed and groomed man than the one he'd met a few days ago in the principal's office. He was sitting on a bench browsing on his phone while little Ryan was reading a book that seemed to be a few years above his grade.

"Uh, Mr. Giroux?" Patrick crawled up onto the bench and squeezed himself beside Ryan as if the animosity between the two of them hadn't even existed. Kids were cute like that.

Mr. Giroux looked up. He was like a completely different man, hair gelled and slicked back, flannel shirt that brought out his eyes, dark straight jeans and Chucks. Almost passably attractive.

Mr. Giroux nudged Ryan onto his feet, Patrick obediently following suit, and grumbled. "Let's just get this over with."

Ah, there he was.

While they waited in line for tickets Sidney whispered, "Mr. Giroux, uh-"

"What are we, in school? Call me Claude. We look like we're around the same age."

"Uh, okay-uh, I'm Sidney by the way-so uh, Claude, I was just thinking that, maybe what you said earlier, about getting this over with, isn't particularly helpful and not really the kind of language we're looking for if we're in fact trying to have our kids get along."

"Don't tell me you actually want to do this?" Claude narrowed his eyes at Sidney.

He'd rather be watching the Flyers kick the Pens' asses. Painful yes, but at least familiar. "I do, for the sake of my son. Both our sons."

"Ryan isn't my son," said Claude, the sarcasm in his voice yielding momentarily. "He's my nephew. But I'm his legal guardian. My sister and her husband... they were in a car crash two years ago."

Sidney gasped without thinking. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, uh, thanks, but anyway. I don't believe in this kind of thing. I think it's normal for kids to have rivals. Competition is healthy. And it's sooner than later that they know that not everyone gets along with each other in the real world."

"I hear that," Sidney mumbled under his breath, evidently loud enough for Claude to hear because he let out a soft chuckle.

"But I guess healthy competition shouldn't include physical altercations."

"Except when you're on the ice."

"And an adult who knows what he's doing."

"Or she."

Claude gave Sidney the side eye. "Sure."

Patrick immediately begged Sidney to buy him an ice cream from the vendor just as they'd entered the zoo gates, which naturally led to Ryan asking for ice cream as well.

"No ice cream," Claude said sharply as he snatched at Ryan's hand.

Patrick looked up at Sidney with brown eyes blown wide expectantly. Under normal circumstances he'd oblige. But it didn't seem fair for Patrick to get ice cream when Ryan was brusquely denied. Sidney knew he had a soft spot for soft serve, and Sidney knew that Patrick knew this, so it was particularly difficult to tell his son "Sorry, not today."

"Why not?" Patrick wailed in the way Sidney recognized as the beginnings of a tantrum.

"Because-" he glanced to the side, seeing Claude guide his pouting nephew away from the treats stand. Sidney had to be strong. "Because we can't always get what we want all the time, okay Patrick?"

"But we always get ice cream, daddy!"

"Not always, Patrick. Come on, let's get going."

The next few minutes consisted of Patrick and Ryan wailing about their lack of ice cream to the point where Sidney could barely hear himself think. Claude looked a little worried. "Maybe we should just get them the ice cream to keep them quiet."

Sidney felt relieved for a split second. But his sensibilities kicked in quickly. "Why did you say no to Ryan before?"

"It's..." Claude sighed. "A principle thing. Last week I got him ice cream and he demanded the larger size. I told him no and he threw his cone onto the floor. His temper tantrum was inside a crowded food court at the mall, so it was pretty freaking embarrassing. I told him if he didn't appreciate what he got then he wasn't going to get anything."

"Oh." It didn't feel right to give in, in that case. Sidney was not one to stand between responsible parenting. "Then no ice cream."

Claude winced. "They're being really obnoxious though. People are staring."

Sidney shrugged. "When they see monkeys they'll forget all about the ice cream."

He turned out to be right. When they made it to the monkey pen the kids were completely engrossed. There wasn't a peep more about ice cream.

"So, what do you do? Work-wise I mean," Claude asked, hands in his pockets.

"I'm a physical therapist," Sidney replied. Claude was still looking at him expectantly as if seeking further elaboration. "I help patients rehabilitate after surgeries and injuries at St. Mike's Hospital."

"Work on any famous people?"

He had, actually. A few top athletes, in fact. Claude looked genuinely impressed when Sidney namedropped a few of them.

"How about you? What do you do?"

"I'm a software developer at Ubisoft."

Now it was Sidney's turn to be impressed. "Seriously? Oh my God, I love _Assassin's Creed_."

"Daddy," Patrick tugged on the hem of Sidney's polo. "We wanna go see the elephants now."

As they made their way through the zoo Sidney's knowledge of Claude and his family grew exponentially. He wasn't the asshole Sidney had thought he was, and the day wasn't the catastrophe he'd envisioned. Their kids were having fun too. All in all, Sidney was enjoying his time with an interesting guy who cleaned up decently. (Oh, and their children too.)

Best yet, they were both hockey fans.

They were deeply engaged in a conversation about the best goaltender in the league when Ryan shouted "Uncle Claude, it's six o'clock!"

Claude looked at the timepiece on his wrist (and a nice one at that, the man had good tastes) and cursed under his breath. "C'mon Ryan, we have to go now or we'll be late." He grabbed his charge by the hand and turned to Sidney. "Uh, well, it was nice getting to know you. Really gotta go, sorry, goodbye!" And off Claude and Ryan went, sprinting for the exit.

Sidney blinked a few times before coming to his senses. "Patrick, did you have fun?"

Patrick nodded. "Yeah. Daddy, did you have fun?"

"Yeah." Why did he feel so empty inside then? "Hey buddy, let's go get some ice cream."

 

A week later he got another call from Principal Fehr, requesting another face-to-face meeting.

"I am sorry to tell you that your son has gotten into another fight with-" Please please please "Mr. Giroux's boy, Ryan."

"Yes!" Sidney shouted without thinking. He coughed and brought his arms down. "Uhh, sorry, just talking with a patient. Yes, I mean no, uh, that's... terrible. I'm very upset with Patrick."

There was a short, disapproving pause before Principal Fehr continued. "I would like you to come into my office after school today so that we may collaborate with Mr. Giroux as to how we might solve this issue once and for all."

"Sure, sounds great, I'll be there, bye!"

When he reconnected with his son after school Sidney made sure to chastise him for his poor behaviour. "I'm very disappointed in you, Patrick. So... where are Ryan and Claude-I mean, Mr. Giroux?"

"They're already at the principal's office," Patrick replied. "I'm sorry daddy I promise we'll never-"

Sidney grabbed Patrick's hand and took to a rapid pace. "Now let's not say things we don't mean. Now hurry up or we're going to be late!"

As advertised, Claude was sitting in the principal's office, Ryan seated next to him. His auburn hair looked freshly styled. Sidney wondered how it might feel like to run his hands through the gel-free natural curls. They looked pretty silky during their first encounter.

"Daddy, should we go in?"

Right, right.

(He didn't even know if Claude was gay. Odds were that he wasn't. He really shouldn't get his hopes up.)

Claude actually turned and smiled as they entered, and Sidney couldn't help but reciprocate. Patrick crawled onto the chair beside Ryan, leaving Sidney seated a fair distance away from Claude. A little disappointing.

"This is very serious boys. We have a zero tolerance policy on violence at Harrisburg Academy. This is your final warning. If we have one more incident then I'm afraid a suspension will be in order. Now, I want you two to sit here and think about what you've done while I speak with your guardians outside." Principal Fehr stood up and gestured for the adults to follow.

"I take it that the excursion you had together was a failure?"

"No," said Sidney, incensed. "We had a good time."

"The kids didn't fight at all," Claude added.

"I do not understand then, why they are fighting at school. I've spoken with the teachers and they insist that it happens without warning during recess. I really think you two should work together to figure out the cause of their disagreements."

Claude nodded, looking at Sidney innocently. "Maybe we could discuss it over dinner tonight, if you're not busy. We could get a sitter-"

"-My neighbour's daughter, Alexa," Sidney nodded. "If she's available. Her dad Mario's actually Patrick's hockey coach. We're really close. I don't think she'd mind taking care of two kids."

"Sounds great, yeah. Uh," Claude swiped through his phone a few times then presented it to Sidney. "Here, just add your contact info here. I'll message you and you can text me your address so I can drop off Ryan and pick you up. You like Italian food?"

"Yeah." Sidney took Claude's phone with a nervous laugh as he tried to keep his hands steady. Claude was watching him anxiously with his lower lip between his teeth. "I'll see you tonight then."

"Well," Principal Fehr nodded. "I'm glad you two are taking such an active approach to resolving this problem. I hope it's of benefit to both your families."

 

Claude arrived at Sidney's townhouse right on time with little Ryan in tow. Alexa, ever dependable (hence his patronage), had showed up a few minutes earlier and was already immersed in Patrick's stuffed animal collection on the living room floor.

Sidney introduced Alexa to Claude and Ryan. It wasn't long before Ryan was in the fluffy fray and Sidney and Claude were walking down the porch steps. He must have made a pretty good living because he drove a nice (but not too flashy) car and had chosen a nice (but not too stuffy) restaurant.

"Just out of curiosity, where's Patrick's mother? I haven't seen a wife around. Are you divorced?"

Sidney tried not to fidget too obviously. "Uh, no. No wife." Didn't want a wife. "I adopted him when he was almost two." Thinking back, Sidney was very lucky he'd been chosen. Prospective mothers didn't want to give their babies to single parents and the adoption agency was nearly as reluctant. But he'd managed somehow to strike the right chord with one of the workers and was grateful everyday to have Patrick in his life.

Claude raised one eyebrow. "There aren't many unmarried men around that determined to raise a child, especially one that's not their own."

This was something Sidney had discussed with new acquaintances many times before, but it was just as difficult every single time. "Yeah, well, I've known that I've always wanted to be a father almost as long as I've known that I'm gay. At least I could have a say in one of those things."

He had it all out on the table now, and as far as he was concerned it was Claude to make the next move. "I had never expected to become Ryan's legal guardian but I honestly feel like it was the best thing that could have happened out of that tragedy for me."

Claude's response didn't exactly tell Sidney what he wanted to know, but Claude at the very least did not recoil in disgust or even flinch with discomfort at the aspect of sharing an intimate dinner with a gay man so that was enough of a win for Sidney.

"He looks a lot like you," Sidney said with a soft smile.

"Please don't tell him that. I don't want to lower his self-esteem," Claude returned the smile.

Although the objective of their dinner was to get to the bottom of their children's penchant for fighting they never really ended up getting to that topic. They did talk about their children, albeit in different contexts. And hockey, boy did they talk about hockey. Sidney and Claude (as well as Patrick and Ryan) actually had a lot in common.

"Sometimes it's easier for people who are similar to clash," said Claude. Sidney nodded, wondering if this was a veiled remark on the two of them. So much for getting his hopes up.

They arrived back at Sidney's after nine o'clock. Sidney had intended on getting home earlier to tuck Patrick into bed and say goodnight but Claude had insisted on getting dessert (crème brulee was Sidney's downfall), then insisted on picking up the check.

"You're paying for the babysitter so I'm paying for dinner," Claude said firmly. It wasn't anywhere close to an equal trade off but the look in his eyes was final (and he did have nice eyes).

They walked up the porch steps, Claude deliberate in keeping behind Sidney. "I had a good time," he said quietly, hands in his pockets and looking down.

"I did too," Sidney replied.

"You know, when I first saw you at the principal's office I thought you were one of those WASPy scumbags born into money who thought they were better than everyone else."

"And when I first saw you I thought you were one of those hipster douchebags who thought they were better than everyone else."

Claude chuckled and raised his head up to meet Sidney's gaze. The mere five seconds felt like an eternity until Claude, pulling his hands out of his pockets, stepped in closer. He placed them gently on Sidney's arm, and despite the fabric between the touch Sidney could feel the heat of skin on skin contact. His heart was beating a mile a minute.

Their faces were close when Claude murmured "Can I..."

Sidney took that as permission to lean forward and press their mouths together.

He'd never felt so relieved when he felt Claude's arms wrap around his waist, pulling them chest to chest, deepening their kiss. Sidney squeezed one hand on Claude's shoulder and his other through the short hairs of Claude's nape, relishing in the heat of their chest and their mouths-

It was gone as soon as it had come with the click of Sidney's front door. He pushed away from Claude instinctively.

Alexa stepped onto the porch, then nearly jumped back into the house. Claude was trailing his tongue against his bottom lip and Sidney was biting his own.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "I heard you guys pull up and you guys didn't come in so I was worried-"

"It's okay Lexie," Sidney said quickly, his voice still a little breathless.

"I already put Patrick to bed, and Ryan has fallen asleep on the couch. But I wanted to let you know that they had a fight today."

"Again?!" Claude squawked. "About what?"

"I'm not sure. It just came out of nowhere. But they wouldn't stop until I sat them down at different corners of the room."

"Oh God, I'm sorry Lexie," said Sidney, rubbing his face with his hands.

"It's okay. I didn't let them watch any more TV after that. They played Lego until they were tired and everything was fine."

"I, uh..." Sidney sighed. "Thanks again."

"No problem. They're both great kids. I just thought you two should know."

"Yes, thank you for telling us," Claude said. He glanced into the house. "I'll take Ryan home. Thanks again for watching them, Lexie."

"I'll walk you home," Sidney added after he'd handed Alexa her babysitting fee (and the little extra was just for the trouble they'd caused her... it wasn't hush money).

Alexa glared at him. "Sid, I live across the street. My dad can see your house though the living room window." She pointed at where Mario was smiling and waving at them. (Shit, had he been there the whole time?!)

Claude had Ryan against his shoulder, Ryan's little arms encircling Claude's neck. "Uncle Claude, I wanna stay here and play more."

"No, we're going home and then it's bedtime." He nodded at Alexa then glanced over at Sidney. "Um, we'll talk soon, okay?"

"Okay," Sidney replied, letting out a slow, quiet exhale.

They waved goodbye to Claude as he buckled Ryan into the backseat, got in and reversed out of the driveway.

Alexa turned to Sidney with her mouth agape. "He's cute. And his nephew is cute. And his car is cute. Oh my God he's perfect for you!" She clapped her hands in front of her delightedly.

Sidney rolled his eyes. "Lexie, go home. Your dad's waiting for you."

"He's going to be so excited when I tell him that you've met someone!"

So much for the hush money.

 

Sidney had waited until they were having lunch after Saturday morning hockey practice when he'd asked "Patrick, I think we need to talk about what's going on between you and Ryan."

Patrick finished chewing his bite of burger and stared at Sidney. "What about me and Ryan?"

"Do you and Ryan not like each other?"

"No daddy. He's one of my friends."

Sidney raised an eyebrow. "You and Ryan are friends?"

"Uh huh." Patrick bobbed his head up and down.

"Why do you and Ryan fight all the time? Friends do not fight like that."

"We're practicing."

"Practicing?" Sidney repeated. "Practicing for what?"

"Hockey players on TV fight all the time. We want to be hockey players so we need to learn how to fight too."

Sidney stared at his young son in disbelief. Had he really said that? "Hold on Patrick. Are you saying that you are copying the fighting you see while we watch hockey games?"

Patrick nodded. "I told Ryan that we need to be tough to play hockey. So we fight each other for practice."

Oh my God. So it was Patrick's fault all along. Sidney felt like facepalming, lard fried grease on his hands and all. "Patrick, do you know what happens after two hockey players fight?"

"They get to sit down and watch hockey."

"Yes, Patrick. Which means they don't get to play hockey. They are taking a penalty, which is not good for their team. You should not be fighting when you play hockey, Patrick."

"But," Patrick paused to gnaw on a french fry. "When they fight people are cheering. Their team is cheering. Fighting is good."

"Fighting is not good, Patrick. When they fight in the NHL, they know what they are doing. They are grown ups, and maybe that is their job. But your job, Patrick, is to learn how to play hockey and be a good teammate. Not to fight. Fighting is not being a good teammate. You could get very hurt if you fight. Those grown up players sometimes get so hurt that they can't play hockey anymore. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

"No!" Patrick shouted.

"Your hockey coaches say no to fighting. You have to listen to them, Patrick. No more fighting."

Patrick looked contemplative with his head angled to the side. "Okay."

"Will you tell Ryan no more fighting? You don't want Ryan to get hurt, do you?"

"No," Patrick said quietly.

"When you fight you don't get to play anymore. You still want to play, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"And Principal Fehr said that if you fight one more time then you'll be suspended from school. That's very bad, Patrick. A suspension is one step away from an expulsion, and that's when they tell you that you can't go to that school anymore. You won't get to see your friends and teachers anymore. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

"No."

"So are you going to fight with Ryan anymore?"

Patrick took pause, then answered "No."

He couldn't wait to tell Claude about this. They'd been exchanging texts regularly since last night (mostly hockey-related chirps and/or innocently flirtatious ones, but exciting nonetheless) but this was actually a significant piece of news.

His phone was ringing not even a minute after he'd hit send.

"I knew it wasn't Ryan's fault," said Claude smugly.

Asshole.

 

Sidney watched with bated breath as Patrick brought a forkful of Claude's baked salmon to his mouth and chewed. He flickered his gaze to Claude, briefly, and saw his boyfriend watching Patrick with equal intensity.

"Good," Patrick said after he'd swallowed. Sidney almost sighed with relief.

Sidney had waited until Claude had brought out ice cream before bringing up the purpose of their dinner. They'd been seeing each other for more than a year and had decided that the next natural progression of their relationship was to move in together. They'd chosen Sidney's home because he'd had the third bedroom for Ryan. (He'd originally purchased the home with the intention of eventually adding a daughter to the family but sometimes life didn't go exactly as planned. Sometimes it went better. But still, maybe when their relationship hit the two or three year mark he'd begin to slowly introduce the idea of adopting a baby girl to Claude.)

Sidney took a deep breath. "So, there's a reason why we planned this sleepover today."

"We know," Ryan said. "It's so that you and Uncle Claude could do sex together."

Claude immediately began coughing. "Ry-Ryan!" He sputtered.

"We're learning about it in school."

"What?!" Sidney squeaked. "What are you learning in school?"

"We're learning about how there are different kinds of families," Patrick jumped in. "Before we were the kind with one daddy. But now it's like we're the kind with two daddies!"

"And Colin said that two parents together do sex," added Ryan. "When they go to their room at night and lock the door. He said that his mom and dad are loud sometimes, and you and Sidney are loud too."

Oh God. He felt like a horrible parent.

"Is this Colin a good friend of yours?" Claude asked cautiously, avoiding eye contact with Sidney.

"He's okay. He doesn't really like to play hockey though." Ryan shrugged.

Sidney's eyes met Claude's for another split second. "Well," Sidney began slowly. "I think that if a boy doesn't like hockey then he's really not someone you want to be friends with. It probably means there's something wrong with him. You guys shouldn't talk to him that much anymore."

Despite the critical narrowing of Claude's eyes in the periphery of Sidney's sight, Ryan and Patrick looked thoughtful.

"Anyway," Claude waved his hand to signal the discussion of a new topic. "You guys like having sleepovers together, right?"

"Yeah," they both said in unison.

"That's good, because Sidney and I have been talking a lot, and we think it would be wonderful if Ryan and I moved here. To live. It would be like having a sleepover every day. How would you like that, Ryan? Wouldn't that be great?"

"Uncle Claude, I'm not stupid. I know what moving into another person's house means," Ryan wrinkled his nose. "Georgina's parents are divorced but her mom is marrying someone else now so she's moving too."

Patrick turned to Sidney suddenly, eyes bright with excitement. "Are you and Claude getting married?!"

"No!" Sidney turned frantically to Claude. "We are not getting married."

 

Claude was already in bed watching the Nucks/Flames game on TV when Sidney emerged from the bathroom. He slipped under the covers gingerly and folded his hands over his chest.

"Maybe we shouldn't have sex tonight. I mean, I don't want the kids to think-"

"Fine," Claude said shortly. His eyes focused determinedly on the game.

It had been an odd night for them since dinner. Claude seemed a little... quiet and closed off. Quite unlike him.

Sidney turned to Claude, trying to glean a read off his face. "Are you mad at me or something?"

"No, not mad. What would I be mad about? Everything's great."

Sidney knew Claude well enough to not fall for that. "What's wrong? Did I say or do something?"

Claude silently began to form a few words with his mouth as if trying to start a sentence. Finally, "Forget it. It's... nothing. I'm fine."

Sidney moved in closer so that their sides were touching. "Obviously it's not nothing. Tell me what's wrong."

Claude pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. "At dinner. You said that we're not getting married."

Sidney furrowed a brow. "Yeah. Because we aren't."

"You made it sound like the idea of marrying me was absolutely ridiculous."

What was going on with him? "Claude, I was just surprised by Patrick's question."

"Just the way that you said it. It was like you'd never even considered it and..." Claude turned to Sidney, finally. "Okay, here's the thing. I love you and I love Patrick too. I want to spend the rest of my life with you guys. The four of us. I'd like to get married, sooner or later."

The way Claude was speaking to Sidney was almost insulting, because that had been his aspiration all along, and the thought of Claude not knowing that was troubling. "I would too, and I love you and Ryan. I want us to be a family more than anything."

Claude's lips began to form a smile. "Really?"

"Of course. But we don't have to rush into anything. I want this to work so I'm willing to be patient."

Claude leaned in and kissed Sidney softly, then pulled Sidney into Claude's lap. "Sometimes I can't believe I'm with you. Can't fault me for trying to tie you down, right?"

"Hey," Sidney ran his fingers through Claude's curls. "I'm the lucky one here."

They exchanged a few more kisses, each one more heated than the next.

"So I was thinking," Sidney paused to run his hands under Claude's t-shirt. "How would you feel about adopting a daughter in the future? We could hyphenate her last name. Crosby-Giroux, or Giroux-Crosby?"

Sidney felt the stirring between Claude's legs and took that to mean interest in what he'd just suggested.

"Yeah," Claude panted against Sidney's mouth. "Let's do it."


End file.
